Unusually Irritable

Ash’s roommate and childhood friend leaned against the desk he was working at, interrupting the studying he was concentrating on. If he wanted his title back, he had to work even harder for it. The battle for Top Student had commenced as soon as Kai had walked away with his simple explanation of "studying".

“What?” Ash snapped, finally looking up. He was surprisingly irritable today.

Elliot raised an eyebrow, amusement showing. He loved knowing that Ash’s feathers could indeed be ruffled, despite his usually cool and collected demeanor. There was also the fact that most of the time, it was Elliot's own ways that brought Ash out from behind his masks. After all, it took someone who knew Ash very well and knew more buttons than anyone could possibly push in one sitting to get him to snap like this. “Your sister called me saying that no one can get ahold of you. I let them know that you’re studying. I didn’t expect to be right.”

“Ugh,” Ash groaned at his friend, ready to ignore the smirk in his tone. He was about to turn back to his papers and books when the words finished processing and clicked into place. “Wait! Did you say my sister called you?” He grabbed his phone from where it silently sat on the desk and looked at the bright screen. 13 missed calls in all. 3 from each of his parents, and 7 from his sister. Yet not a single text message. This was important, and it would not end well. Not after ignoring all of those calls.

Elliot plopped down onto his own bed, chuckling to himself as Ash immediately called his sister. Very rarely was he involved in the family drama, though he knew all about what went on behind the curtains. Or, at least, I thought he did. Ash's sister would be the easiest to get answers from, and the least likely to start scolding him upon answering the phone.

"Ash, you better come home right now," she picked up on the second ring, no greeting in sight. Ash didn't bother to respond as he ended the call. Syl was a lot like Elliot. They both were insufferable when they had information, making you work to get it out of them. The fact that she hadn't greeted him or teased him or anything was extremely worrisome. He stood from his desk and grabbed the keys hidden in his drawer. He had to get home immediately. Who knew what was going on.

Ash didn't drive often as he never really needed nor wanted to, but it was times like these that he was rather grateful he was allowed to have his own car on campus so he didn't have to wait for a chauffeur. They may have made travel more enjoyable, but they never earned any points when it came to speed.

He pushed the speed limit the entire way home. Well, actually, he did more than just push it. He was at least careful enough to not speed too much. After all, if his presence was needed this bad at home, then something had to be going on. What could make them interrupt his schooling? Especially when he would be free after noon tomorrow? What was going on?